


A man invisible

by megyal



Category: Naruto
Genre: Community: kakairu_kink, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-08
Updated: 2012-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-29 04:12:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/315675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/megyal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a terse letter, Iruka begins to really look at Kakashi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A man invisible

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://kakairu-kink.livejournal.com/704.html?thread=809664) at the Kakairu Kink Meme.

I am an invisible man.... I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.  
~Ralph Ellison, _The Invisible Man_ , 1952

  
_Sensei_

_This scroll has a delayed and modified exploding_  
_tag. Seven minutes from the time it is unfurled, it_  
_will ignite._

_I expect that the contents in this scroll will not_  
_be heard all over the village like common news._  
_You don't seem to be a man of idle chatter. In any_  
_case, if I do hear of it, I'll make your life a living hell._

_This message is about what you think you know._

_You know the Copynin is a man who doesn't talk to other_  
_people, because he thinks they're not worth his time,_  
_especially chuunin. He reads those books because he_  
_delights in making people uncomfortable. He brings in_  
_his mission-reports late, because he really doesn't care,_  
_and they're always messy and smudged. He's aloof, careless_  
_and dangerously self-centered. This is what you think, and I_  
_should know. I, like everyone else at the time, heard you_  
_inform him of his numerous shortcomings_  
_in the Mission Room._

_He's not the kind of person to respond to loud interactions. He_  
_will simply stare at you and walk away, which he did. I'm_  
_surprised he gave an apology. You didn't deserve one. Even_  
_if he muttered it, he meant it._

_What you don't know is that the Copynin is aloof because_  
_he has to be. The last decent conversation he had with_  
_someone not in his own rank, the person ran away thinking_  
_that the Copynin was on the verge of disemboweling them, when_  
_he was asking them what their favourite make_  
_of shuriken was. He really doesn't know how to_  
_have a normal conversation. He never really learned._  
_He was kind of busy as a child._

_What you don't know is that the Copynin can hardly write._  
_He knows a little at this point, and reads even better now_  
_that Konoha's Sublime Green Beast has undertaken a personal_  
_mission for complete literacy. However, he makes mistakes._  
_Lots of them, and I'm the one who is asked to help him out._  
_I happen to have a life, and I'm not always around. Of course,_  
_he is very stubborn, and refuses to go to anyone else,_  
_even the Sublime Green Beast. So, he's late in handing in_  
_his reports. This sounds like an excuse, I suppose. It's only_  
_the truth._

_He hassles me more when he knows you're on-duty. For_  
_some reason, he finds something interesting about you._

_What it all boils down to is this: give him a break._  
_He's the Copynin, yes. He's also just a man you think_  
_you know, just by looking at the surface._

_Best if you let this go now._

+

 

Iruka blinked at the spiky handwriting on the small scroll which had been neatly wrapped within one of Genma's mission-reports. Numbly, he thought that last line referred to this whole _situation_ , and belatedly recalled the exploding tag when the blasted thing caught fire. He dropped it on the floor of filing-room, and quickly formed seals for small water jutsu, extinguishing the fire before it spread to the rest of the scrolls.

He stood there for a very long time, staring at the scarred surface of the old cabinets. He returned to his seat in silence, not replying when someone made a quick joke at his absence. He didn't quite hear them, anyway, his mind was caught up in too many things.

"Sensei," a cool voice said from in front of him, jolting him out of his mental meandering. Trained well enough not to jump, Iruka still felt a nervous clenching in his stomach as he raised his gaze to meet the coolly singular one of Sharingan no Kakashi. The sudden silence from all around them was palpable; it seemed that they were all holding their breath, waiting for Iruka to lose his temper in the same spectacular manner as he had yesterday.

Iruka took the mission-report that Kakashi held out, hoping the heat he felt in his cheeks didn't show overly much on his skin. He remembered how he'd blown up at this man, disgruntled at what he _thought_ he knew. He got to his feet and the silence became even more solid, but he set his jaw.

"I find late reports unacceptable," he said in a clear voice to the entire room, because Iruka was the kind of person to jump in with both feet, for good or for bad. "However, my behaviour yesterday was more than unacceptable, and over the line. I'm sorry, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi blinked at him, one long slow movement. In that moment, Iruka noticed that he had very long and unusually dark eyelashes, considering his fair hair and pale skin. What _else_ had he not noticed about Kakashi, blinded almost completely by his own preconceived notions?

"Apology accepted, Sensei," Kakashi said in a very low voice. Iruka wasn't sure if anyone but himself could hear. Kakashi turned on his heel and walked out of the Mission Room. Genma was waiting for him at the door, leaning against the jamb; when Iruka met his gaze, Genma sketched him a quick salute, _senbon_ wiggling between his lips.

Conversation flooded back into the space as Iruka took his seat, but he still felt distracted, slightly unsettled. No more than two minutes later, he rose from his chair and asked one of the other on-duty shinobi to cover him for a few moments. He walked out, and fairly sprinted down the sidewalk, spotting Kakashi and Genma just before they disapeared around a corner.

"Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi turned around, peering over the top of his book, visible eyebrow arched. Genma threw an amused look over his shoulder, and kept walking.

"I accepted your apology," Kakashi said in a flat tone as soon as Iruka drew close to him. "Unless you're here to take it back."

"No, no," Iruka said. "I wanted to ask you to dinner."

"Me?" Kakashi lowered his book and actually looked around himself, as if there was someone else to whom Iruka could have been referring.

Iruka smiled, suddenly quite charmed by this person in front of him, this person he had seen all his life without really looking. "If you like, you could come to my apartment. I can cook fairly well."

"I could help," Kakashi offered. "I'm good with sharp implements. I might slice you into pieces if you happen to stand near a chopping board." He paused, apparently considering what he just said. "Sensei, when I say things like that--"

"I understand," Iruka hastened to assure him. "I really do. Is tomorrow night alright?"

Kakashi said, "I have to meet with Guy at about four. But at six o'clock--"

"That's fine. Bring sake, if you can, and...and. Well. I'll see you?"

Kakashi's book popped up in front of his face again. "That would be nice." His voice floated over the tops of the pages. "Dinner would be...nice."

Iruka reached out and shook him by the elbow, giddy and nonsensical, before turning and hurrying back to the Mission Room. He looked back once or twice, and each time Kakashi stood right where Iruka had left him: hands now in pockets, book nowhere in sight...

...and really _looking_ at Iruka.


End file.
